artist: CELER
title: Nacreous Clouds
catalog number: and/33
release year: 2008
format: CD
status: sold out
title: Nacreous Clouds
catalog number: and/33
release year: 2008
format: CD
status: sold out
Polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs), also known as "nacreous clouds", are found in
the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 metres (50,000–80,000
ft). Due to their high altitude and the curvature of the surface of the Earth, these
clouds will receive sunlight from below the horizon and reflect it to the ground,
shining brightly well before dawn or after dusk. PSCs form at very low
temperatures, below −78 °C. These temperatures can occur in the lower
stratosphere in polar winter. In the Antarctic, temperatures below −88 °C frequently
cause type II PSCs. Such low temperatures are rarer in the Arctic. Apart from
arctic regions, PSCs have also been known to be seen in Scandinavia, Iceland,
Alaska and Northern Canada. Sometimes, however, they occur as far south as
England.
This beautiful release features 37 short tracks of raw iridescent ambience (total
time exceeding 78 minutes) reflecting the hyper-temporal nature of what are
known as "nacreous clouds". And like the clouds, the tracks are quick to appear
and disappear. Playback using the random shuffle mode of your CD player is
highly recommended.
While this is undoubtedly an ambient release, it is unusual in that there are many
short tracks instead of one or two long ones, and each of the tracks is notably
"raw" in that they do not use additional processing like reverb to enhance the
initial processed sound sources further. This might prove to be a challenge for
those who prefer their ambience buried under a thousand pounds of reverb, but it
is not the intent of the artists or and/OAR to release "just another ambient CD".
Instead, we invite you to explore an alternative method of rendering ambience in
a way that is more immediate, therefore effecting the listener's mind in a more
personal and powerful way.
"We originally recorded ourselves playing instruments such as cello, violin, piano
and bells. We also made recordings of household sounds (such as showers,
running water in the sink, and television static), plus the wind outside, beaches
cars passing, walking on gravel streets, etc. Afterward we went through everything,
choosing specific parts in lengths ranging from 3 seconds to 3 minutes, and made
tape loops of everything. At this point, we arranged the different tape loops into
patterns and speeds meant to resemble the clouds and their actions as much as
possible. When mixing the loops, we played three to six of them at a time, on
different reel-to-reel tape players connected to both of our laptops and channeled
back out into a Kaiser filter." (Celer)
Celer are the wife and husband duo of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long. After
releasing a rather prolific series of handcrafted self-released CDRs, 2008 has seen
a sudden flurry of CD releases on recording labels such as Spekk (with Matthieu
Ruhlmann), two releases on Infraction (with a possible third to come?), plus
and/OAR.
Danielle Baquet -Long is a teacher of special education and music therapy, a
seasoned and published writer of poetry and prose, a painter, multi-instrumentalist
and vocalist, also recording under the project name of Chubby Wolf. She has an
extensive background in Gender Studies, Education, Basque History,
Photography, and Tibetan Studies, as well as having lived in India, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, and the United States.
Will Long also works in education, and is a published writer of fiction, non-fiction,
and poetry, with degrees from two universities in English and History, and with a
background in Creative Writing, Philosophy, and Literature. He is also an
instrumentalist, interested in finding a meeting place through music between the
analog and digital world, through field recordings, custom software, arrangements,
and concepts. He first began experimenting with sound at age 4, making
'unsynchronized tape loops' by recording fragments of pleasant tones from records
and films onto audio cassettes, rewinding, recording again, and repeating the
process until the tape was filled up.
During Will and Dani's time together, they have produced numerous custom,
handmade self-releases, sound for installations and art exhibitions, as well as
creating works for independent labels in North America, Japan, and Europe. Their
intent is producing works that reflect the nature of love, family, and their concerns
and interests, through a relative and absolute symposium of expression.
the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 metres (50,000–80,000
ft). Due to their high altitude and the curvature of the surface of the Earth, these
clouds will receive sunlight from below the horizon and reflect it to the ground,
shining brightly well before dawn or after dusk. PSCs form at very low
temperatures, below −78 °C. These temperatures can occur in the lower
stratosphere in polar winter. In the Antarctic, temperatures below −88 °C frequently
cause type II PSCs. Such low temperatures are rarer in the Arctic. Apart from
arctic regions, PSCs have also been known to be seen in Scandinavia, Iceland,
Alaska and Northern Canada. Sometimes, however, they occur as far south as
England.
This beautiful release features 37 short tracks of raw iridescent ambience (total
time exceeding 78 minutes) reflecting the hyper-temporal nature of what are
known as "nacreous clouds". And like the clouds, the tracks are quick to appear
and disappear. Playback using the random shuffle mode of your CD player is
highly recommended.
While this is undoubtedly an ambient release, it is unusual in that there are many
short tracks instead of one or two long ones, and each of the tracks is notably
"raw" in that they do not use additional processing like reverb to enhance the
initial processed sound sources further. This might prove to be a challenge for
those who prefer their ambience buried under a thousand pounds of reverb, but it
is not the intent of the artists or and/OAR to release "just another ambient CD".
Instead, we invite you to explore an alternative method of rendering ambience in
a way that is more immediate, therefore effecting the listener's mind in a more
personal and powerful way.
"We originally recorded ourselves playing instruments such as cello, violin, piano
and bells. We also made recordings of household sounds (such as showers,
running water in the sink, and television static), plus the wind outside, beaches
cars passing, walking on gravel streets, etc. Afterward we went through everything,
choosing specific parts in lengths ranging from 3 seconds to 3 minutes, and made
tape loops of everything. At this point, we arranged the different tape loops into
patterns and speeds meant to resemble the clouds and their actions as much as
possible. When mixing the loops, we played three to six of them at a time, on
different reel-to-reel tape players connected to both of our laptops and channeled
back out into a Kaiser filter." (Celer)
Celer are the wife and husband duo of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long. After
releasing a rather prolific series of handcrafted self-released CDRs, 2008 has seen
a sudden flurry of CD releases on recording labels such as Spekk (with Matthieu
Ruhlmann), two releases on Infraction (with a possible third to come?), plus
and/OAR.
Danielle Baquet -Long is a teacher of special education and music therapy, a
seasoned and published writer of poetry and prose, a painter, multi-instrumentalist
and vocalist, also recording under the project name of Chubby Wolf. She has an
extensive background in Gender Studies, Education, Basque History,
Photography, and Tibetan Studies, as well as having lived in India, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, and the United States.
Will Long also works in education, and is a published writer of fiction, non-fiction,
and poetry, with degrees from two universities in English and History, and with a
background in Creative Writing, Philosophy, and Literature. He is also an
instrumentalist, interested in finding a meeting place through music between the
analog and digital world, through field recordings, custom software, arrangements,
and concepts. He first began experimenting with sound at age 4, making
'unsynchronized tape loops' by recording fragments of pleasant tones from records
and films onto audio cassettes, rewinding, recording again, and repeating the
process until the tape was filled up.
During Will and Dani's time together, they have produced numerous custom,
handmade self-releases, sound for installations and art exhibitions, as well as
creating works for independent labels in North America, Japan, and Europe. Their
intent is producing works that reflect the nature of love, family, and their concerns
and interests, through a relative and absolute symposium of expression.
SMALLFISH (SEPTEMBER 2008)
An utterly enchanting release from and/OAR which sees the husband and wife
team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will long delivering what can only be called a
magical series of ambient works. Using a wide range of original sound recordings
including live instruments and environmental sounds the tracks are then built up
using layering and filtering to create the dream-like, drifting final pieces. Meant to
be an aural representation of the nacreous clouds from the title there's a loving
and gentle touch here and it's interesting that the final product features lots of
shorter tracks rather than the more standard three of four long ones. I for one
believe it works exactly as intended and to experience the entire CD in one 78
minute sitting is the best way to enjoy it. Warm, yet distant and full of natural
sounding beauty this is a release to treasure. Highly recommended. (Mike Oliver)
An utterly enchanting release from and/OAR which sees the husband and wife
team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will long delivering what can only be called a
magical series of ambient works. Using a wide range of original sound recordings
including live instruments and environmental sounds the tracks are then built up
using layering and filtering to create the dream-like, drifting final pieces. Meant to
be an aural representation of the nacreous clouds from the title there's a loving
and gentle touch here and it's interesting that the final product features lots of
shorter tracks rather than the more standard three of four long ones. I for one
believe it works exactly as intended and to experience the entire CD in one 78
minute sitting is the best way to enjoy it. Warm, yet distant and full of natural
sounding beauty this is a release to treasure. Highly recommended. (Mike Oliver)
TEXTURA (NOVEMBER 2008)
Married couple and alchemists extraordinaire Danielle Baquet-Long and Will
Long (aka Celer) repeatedly demonstrate the uncanny ability to take virtually any
source material and spin it into aural gold. The duo's and/OAR release Nacreous
Clouds, for instance, presents seventy-eight minutes of thirty-seven miniatures (the
longest four minutes, the shortest an 8.5 second-long voice sample that's jarring
for being so unexpected and incongruous) that aspire to capture the "hyper-
temporal nature" of said clouds which are distinguished from other clouds in a
couple of key respects: nacreous clouds—also known as polar stratospheric clouds
(PSCs)—reside in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000
metres (50,000–80,000 ft.) and, due to their high altitude and the curvature of the
Earth's surface of the, receive sunlight from below the horizon and reflect it to the
ground, shining brightly well before dawn or after dusk.
The production method adopted by the group is pure Celer: the partners first
recorded themselves playing cello, violin, piano and bells, supplemented that
material with field recordings (showers, sink water, television static, wind, car
noises, etc.), and generated tape loops from selected bits which were then
arranged into patterns and speeds that would resemble the clouds and their
movements. The coup de grace(?): "When mixing the loops, (they) played three to
six of them at a time, on different reel-to-reel tape players connected to both of
(their) laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter." Finally, Celer opted to
leave the resultant material in a "raw" state by not enhancing the tracks with
reverb, a move that imbues the material with a pristine purity. Adding to that
quality is the fact that, though a rich range of source elements was used to
produce them, the resultant material has been cleansed of identifiably associative
characteristics and, consequently, each iridescent, quietly shimmering piece,
reduced to its purest essence, floats peacefully through the stereo field, coming
into view quickly and disappearing just as fast. In general, the mood is tranquil
and the cumulative effect calming, even if some "clouds" drift more quietly than
others.
If ever a recording was tailor-made for random shuffle, it's Nacreous Clouds—even
titling the tracks vividly as Celer has done (e.g., "Passing Hills and Still Windmills,"
"Voiceless Devilfish") seems an extravagance when they could just as reasonably
be named "Nacreous Clouds I," "Nacreous Clouds II," and so on. The recording,
like virtually all of Celer's output, invites immersion and promotes the experience
of temporal suspension.
Married couple and alchemists extraordinaire Danielle Baquet-Long and Will
Long (aka Celer) repeatedly demonstrate the uncanny ability to take virtually any
source material and spin it into aural gold. The duo's and/OAR release Nacreous
Clouds, for instance, presents seventy-eight minutes of thirty-seven miniatures (the
longest four minutes, the shortest an 8.5 second-long voice sample that's jarring
for being so unexpected and incongruous) that aspire to capture the "hyper-
temporal nature" of said clouds which are distinguished from other clouds in a
couple of key respects: nacreous clouds—also known as polar stratospheric clouds
(PSCs)—reside in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000
metres (50,000–80,000 ft.) and, due to their high altitude and the curvature of the
Earth's surface of the, receive sunlight from below the horizon and reflect it to the
ground, shining brightly well before dawn or after dusk.
The production method adopted by the group is pure Celer: the partners first
recorded themselves playing cello, violin, piano and bells, supplemented that
material with field recordings (showers, sink water, television static, wind, car
noises, etc.), and generated tape loops from selected bits which were then
arranged into patterns and speeds that would resemble the clouds and their
movements. The coup de grace(?): "When mixing the loops, (they) played three to
six of them at a time, on different reel-to-reel tape players connected to both of
(their) laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter." Finally, Celer opted to
leave the resultant material in a "raw" state by not enhancing the tracks with
reverb, a move that imbues the material with a pristine purity. Adding to that
quality is the fact that, though a rich range of source elements was used to
produce them, the resultant material has been cleansed of identifiably associative
characteristics and, consequently, each iridescent, quietly shimmering piece,
reduced to its purest essence, floats peacefully through the stereo field, coming
into view quickly and disappearing just as fast. In general, the mood is tranquil
and the cumulative effect calming, even if some "clouds" drift more quietly than
others.
If ever a recording was tailor-made for random shuffle, it's Nacreous Clouds—even
titling the tracks vividly as Celer has done (e.g., "Passing Hills and Still Windmills,"
"Voiceless Devilfish") seems an extravagance when they could just as reasonably
be named "Nacreous Clouds I," "Nacreous Clouds II," and so on. The recording,
like virtually all of Celer's output, invites immersion and promotes the experience
of temporal suspension.
TANNER MENARD BLOG (DECEMBER 2008)
Two is a good number in art. When things happen in two, then you can
be assured that some sort of order will be inherent in the system, and
that change will happen. I have worked with and befriended a number of creative
twosomes, but none so talented and well presented as Will
Thomas Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. Their self described sound,
visual, literary, and artistic endeavor working under the moniker 'Celer' is making
waves in the ambient music scene. I remember the first night that I heard the
music of Celer. It was early in the summer of 2007, in the mission district of San
Francisco, and I came across their Archaic Horizon release 'Arriil'. Slightly
inebriated, I sat transfixed as the sound, a single line gradually unfolded like a
Rosicrucian flower into a dense world of sonic variation. It was as if I had come
across a new aesthetic raison d'être. Admittedly, that night changed the course of
my musical life, taking me in a powerful new direction away from noise, towards a
music of stillness, beauty and romanticism. Recently Will and Dani mailed a copy
of their newly released album 'Nacreous Clouds', a piece that I had listened to
with great delight over the course of the last year in MP3 format. Of all their work,
this album, beautifully released on Dale Lloyd's influential and/OAR label, and its
sister album, the self-released 'Neon', are cornerstone pieces of a new aesthetic
voice in experimental and ambient music.
Like the rare polar stratospheric clouds which inspire this work, this piece fades
into the lexicon of music that is hardly noticed, but exists in such great beauty that
those who come across it are left in awe at its subtle glow. I am reminded of
something I read once by Morton Feldman in his essay 'A Life without Bach or
Beethoven.' "A man visiting Diego Rivera once expressed surprise to fine Miro, Arp
and other abstract painters on the walls of Mexico's great social realist. Rivera
replied, 'Those paintings are for me' this is my feeling about Christian Wolfe." This
is how 'Nacreous Clouds' is for me. It is perfectly invisible music. Like Barnet
Newman's line, a perfect nothing, and yet somehow, I let myself believe that the
universe let Will and Dani create this music just for my ears, just to inspire my own
barely audible vision. What I love most about Celer is the poetic mystery that
shrouds their work. I once heard Terence Mckenna speaking about the power of
words, he suggested that under the influence of DMT a species of multi-
dimensional creatures began telling him that words bring existence into being,
you remember the line from the bible 'and in the beginning was the word.' If that's
true, then could it be that the poet is the ultimate sculptor of reality? In the case
of Celer, one can never dismiss the creative impulse of the poetry that underlies
their brilliant music. It is the poetry from whence this great work is brought into
being. Somehow these works remind me a bit of William Blake. Finely crafted
small works of romanticism, packaged gingerly in simplistic naturalism. The work
of a master craftsmen full of universal love. Just yesterday I asked Will to say a few
words about Blake and he responded, 'A friend of mine used to love Blake. I think
he still does. He used to get inspired by reading Blake, and write poems, then burn
them, leaving ashes all over my driveway.' Somehow I feel that this is me in the
wake of this powerful music.
Two is a good number in art. When things happen in two, then you can
be assured that some sort of order will be inherent in the system, and
that change will happen. I have worked with and befriended a number of creative
twosomes, but none so talented and well presented as Will
Thomas Long and Danielle Baquet-Long. Their self described sound,
visual, literary, and artistic endeavor working under the moniker 'Celer' is making
waves in the ambient music scene. I remember the first night that I heard the
music of Celer. It was early in the summer of 2007, in the mission district of San
Francisco, and I came across their Archaic Horizon release 'Arriil'. Slightly
inebriated, I sat transfixed as the sound, a single line gradually unfolded like a
Rosicrucian flower into a dense world of sonic variation. It was as if I had come
across a new aesthetic raison d'être. Admittedly, that night changed the course of
my musical life, taking me in a powerful new direction away from noise, towards a
music of stillness, beauty and romanticism. Recently Will and Dani mailed a copy
of their newly released album 'Nacreous Clouds', a piece that I had listened to
with great delight over the course of the last year in MP3 format. Of all their work,
this album, beautifully released on Dale Lloyd's influential and/OAR label, and its
sister album, the self-released 'Neon', are cornerstone pieces of a new aesthetic
voice in experimental and ambient music.
Like the rare polar stratospheric clouds which inspire this work, this piece fades
into the lexicon of music that is hardly noticed, but exists in such great beauty that
those who come across it are left in awe at its subtle glow. I am reminded of
something I read once by Morton Feldman in his essay 'A Life without Bach or
Beethoven.' "A man visiting Diego Rivera once expressed surprise to fine Miro, Arp
and other abstract painters on the walls of Mexico's great social realist. Rivera
replied, 'Those paintings are for me' this is my feeling about Christian Wolfe." This
is how 'Nacreous Clouds' is for me. It is perfectly invisible music. Like Barnet
Newman's line, a perfect nothing, and yet somehow, I let myself believe that the
universe let Will and Dani create this music just for my ears, just to inspire my own
barely audible vision. What I love most about Celer is the poetic mystery that
shrouds their work. I once heard Terence Mckenna speaking about the power of
words, he suggested that under the influence of DMT a species of multi-
dimensional creatures began telling him that words bring existence into being,
you remember the line from the bible 'and in the beginning was the word.' If that's
true, then could it be that the poet is the ultimate sculptor of reality? In the case
of Celer, one can never dismiss the creative impulse of the poetry that underlies
their brilliant music. It is the poetry from whence this great work is brought into
being. Somehow these works remind me a bit of William Blake. Finely crafted
small works of romanticism, packaged gingerly in simplistic naturalism. The work
of a master craftsmen full of universal love. Just yesterday I asked Will to say a few
words about Blake and he responded, 'A friend of mine used to love Blake. I think
he still does. He used to get inspired by reading Blake, and write poems, then burn
them, leaving ashes all over my driveway.' Somehow I feel that this is me in the
wake of this powerful music.
BRAIN DEAD ETERNITY (DECEMBER 2008)
“Nacreous clouds” is just another definition for “Polar stratospheric clouds” or PSCs,
whose abnormal shining occurs before dawn or after dusk due to the sunlight
received from beyond the horizon, a luminosity that is also reflected to the ground
in those circumstances. To sonically represent this phenomenon, Will Thomas
Long and Dani Baquet-Long recorded several segments of music and human
activity, either by playing regular instruments (cello, violin, piano and bells) or
aptly described “household sounds” (water, TV static, etc.) together with “classic”
field recordings. Afterwards, they made tape loops of the whole, setting the
playback at various speeds in different combinations, the results processed by
laptops and “channelled back out into a Kaiser filter”.
If you think that it’s possible to detect even a slight particle of the above
mentioned sources while listening to this CD you’re completely wrong, as the 37
pieces forming this malleable architecture – improvable by shuffling the tracks
according to the composers – are short glimpses of a state of conscious stupor that
renders this work, in all probability, the best Celer album I’ve had the opportunity
to enjoy. The “raw iridescent ambience” depiction used in the press release is a
good one: umbrageous entities, whispered amorphousness, sudden
disappearances and somnolent reminiscences are all part of a same mental
condition, the nerves receiving a much needed rubdown that transforms a latent
tenseness into a resinous melancholy. Goodbye to vigilance, welcome to inside
responsiveness. A fine paradigm of contemporary ambient at low volume, but also
an exciting titillation of particular frequencies as the mixture is left free to reveal
its stifled resonances more deliberately. (Massimo Ricci)
“Nacreous clouds” is just another definition for “Polar stratospheric clouds” or PSCs,
whose abnormal shining occurs before dawn or after dusk due to the sunlight
received from beyond the horizon, a luminosity that is also reflected to the ground
in those circumstances. To sonically represent this phenomenon, Will Thomas
Long and Dani Baquet-Long recorded several segments of music and human
activity, either by playing regular instruments (cello, violin, piano and bells) or
aptly described “household sounds” (water, TV static, etc.) together with “classic”
field recordings. Afterwards, they made tape loops of the whole, setting the
playback at various speeds in different combinations, the results processed by
laptops and “channelled back out into a Kaiser filter”.
If you think that it’s possible to detect even a slight particle of the above
mentioned sources while listening to this CD you’re completely wrong, as the 37
pieces forming this malleable architecture – improvable by shuffling the tracks
according to the composers – are short glimpses of a state of conscious stupor that
renders this work, in all probability, the best Celer album I’ve had the opportunity
to enjoy. The “raw iridescent ambience” depiction used in the press release is a
good one: umbrageous entities, whispered amorphousness, sudden
disappearances and somnolent reminiscences are all part of a same mental
condition, the nerves receiving a much needed rubdown that transforms a latent
tenseness into a resinous melancholy. Goodbye to vigilance, welcome to inside
responsiveness. A fine paradigm of contemporary ambient at low volume, but also
an exciting titillation of particular frequencies as the mixture is left free to reveal
its stifled resonances more deliberately. (Massimo Ricci)
VITAL WEEKLY (SEPTEMBER 2008)
Highly ambient loops are created to make the music. It's played by cello, violin,
piano, bells but also household sounds, the wind, walking gravel streets and such
like, but if you wouldn't know this, you could as easily mistake this for a bunch of
slow arpeggio's played on an analogue synthesizer. But it's not. Celer created
loops of everything and playing three to six on their reel-to-reel recorders,
'connected to both our laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter', they
say. Perhaps the 'Kaiser filter' makes that these thirty- seven (!!) tracks sound quite
similar with sonic differences to be spotted through a microscope. It moves like the
clouds, like those mentioned in the title, which occur in winter time. Not entirely
winter time here (will it ever be again?) yet, and not many clouds on a beautiful
autumn day (my kind of weather), but if I would open up a window things would
certainly get chilly in here, and this could be a great sound track. Beautiful
examples of somewhat darker ambient music. (Frans De Waard)
Highly ambient loops are created to make the music. It's played by cello, violin,
piano, bells but also household sounds, the wind, walking gravel streets and such
like, but if you wouldn't know this, you could as easily mistake this for a bunch of
slow arpeggio's played on an analogue synthesizer. But it's not. Celer created
loops of everything and playing three to six on their reel-to-reel recorders,
'connected to both our laptops and channeled back out into a Kaiser filter', they
say. Perhaps the 'Kaiser filter' makes that these thirty- seven (!!) tracks sound quite
similar with sonic differences to be spotted through a microscope. It moves like the
clouds, like those mentioned in the title, which occur in winter time. Not entirely
winter time here (will it ever be again?) yet, and not many clouds on a beautiful
autumn day (my kind of weather), but if I would open up a window things would
certainly get chilly in here, and this could be a great sound track. Beautiful
examples of somewhat darker ambient music. (Frans De Waard)
LOOP (DECEMBER 2008)
La música de Celer me hace pensar, observar la naturaleza que, en este caso es
un austero jardín. El sol pronto se va a disipar entre los edificios de Santiago…
Los loops fluyen en la atmósfera uniendo sonidos analógicos y digitales, como si
fueran ondas que van y vienen. Es el paisaje sonoro perfecto para ver o imaginar
las nacaradas nubes que son un fenómeno que se da en el invierno polar,
especialmente en el Antártico, en donde se experimentan temperaturas de 78°
grados bajo cero. Estos drones sonoros fueran hechos originalmente por un cello,
violín, piano y campanillas además de registros de campo, cuyos sonidos son
puestos en cintas que son tocadas al unísono y luego procesadas por el laptop.
Celer está compuesto por Will Thomas Long y Danielle Baquet-Long, ambos
escritores y educadores quienes residen en el norte de California.
(Guillermo Escudero)
La música de Celer me hace pensar, observar la naturaleza que, en este caso es
un austero jardín. El sol pronto se va a disipar entre los edificios de Santiago…
Los loops fluyen en la atmósfera uniendo sonidos analógicos y digitales, como si
fueran ondas que van y vienen. Es el paisaje sonoro perfecto para ver o imaginar
las nacaradas nubes que son un fenómeno que se da en el invierno polar,
especialmente en el Antártico, en donde se experimentan temperaturas de 78°
grados bajo cero. Estos drones sonoros fueran hechos originalmente por un cello,
violín, piano y campanillas además de registros de campo, cuyos sonidos son
puestos en cintas que son tocadas al unísono y luego procesadas por el laptop.
Celer está compuesto por Will Thomas Long y Danielle Baquet-Long, ambos
escritores y educadores quienes residen en el norte de California.
(Guillermo Escudero)
TOKAFI (JANUARY 2009)
Nacreous Clouds germinate in the polar winter of skies draped across Alaska,
Iceland, Scandinavia, Northern Canada and, most notably, the Antarctic. Tokens
of these rare cloud types, these mother of pearls, are wrung from household
objects and natural instruments such as cello, violin, piano and bells on this,
Celer's first contribution to the and/Oar catalogue.
In a space of seventy some odd minutes, thirty-seven small tracks appear - made
up of processed tape loops - and are generally rigorous, moving and yet
clear-eyed. The filmy sheets are delicately poised as they curl and uncurl, stretch
and contract, almost mimicking the way in which these clouds tend to reveal the
wind and the waves of the stratosphere. Perhaps not surprisingly, the speed of the
pieces changes like small spasms and the odd work ascends higher or lower than
the majority of others.
During tracks like "Swarms Of Orange" and "Seeing; That Side Of Teaching",
furthermore, there is noticeable emphasis on vivid and slowly shifting iridescent
colors. It's real music for synaesthetes, for whom the hue of a note or chord is not a
metaphorical device but an objective fact. Sans reverb and other such processing
techniques, these pieces manage to strike at the emotional registers with some
immediacy. (Max Schaefer)
Nacreous Clouds germinate in the polar winter of skies draped across Alaska,
Iceland, Scandinavia, Northern Canada and, most notably, the Antarctic. Tokens
of these rare cloud types, these mother of pearls, are wrung from household
objects and natural instruments such as cello, violin, piano and bells on this,
Celer's first contribution to the and/Oar catalogue.
In a space of seventy some odd minutes, thirty-seven small tracks appear - made
up of processed tape loops - and are generally rigorous, moving and yet
clear-eyed. The filmy sheets are delicately poised as they curl and uncurl, stretch
and contract, almost mimicking the way in which these clouds tend to reveal the
wind and the waves of the stratosphere. Perhaps not surprisingly, the speed of the
pieces changes like small spasms and the odd work ascends higher or lower than
the majority of others.
During tracks like "Swarms Of Orange" and "Seeing; That Side Of Teaching",
furthermore, there is noticeable emphasis on vivid and slowly shifting iridescent
colors. It's real music for synaesthetes, for whom the hue of a note or chord is not a
metaphorical device but an objective fact. Sans reverb and other such processing
techniques, these pieces manage to strike at the emotional registers with some
immediacy. (Max Schaefer)
AQUARIUS RECORDS (SEPTEMBER 2008)
Celer is the husband and wife team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long, who
currently reside somewhere down on the Southern California coast. They've
released a handful of well-received ambient recordings on Spekk and Infraction,
and they've found a good home on and/OAR for this driftscape of tapeloop
interplay. As for the title, a nacreous cloud is found in the upper regions of the
atmosphere at the polar regions. Well past sunset and well before sunrise, these
clouds showcase a radiant brightness against an otherwise darkened sky; and it's
this particular phenomenon that forms the inspiration for Celer's album of the
same name. Having stretched the tones of various instruments into languid
looping drones and bliss-out ambience, Celer presents 37 short tracks which
actually work really well as a single composition, given the gentle flutter and
restrained attack from all of their sounds. References abound to William Basinski's
ambient work, Aidan Baker's soft focus facets, and of course the seminal work of
Brian Eno.
Celer is the husband and wife team of Dani Baquet-Long and Will Long, who
currently reside somewhere down on the Southern California coast. They've
released a handful of well-received ambient recordings on Spekk and Infraction,
and they've found a good home on and/OAR for this driftscape of tapeloop
interplay. As for the title, a nacreous cloud is found in the upper regions of the
atmosphere at the polar regions. Well past sunset and well before sunrise, these
clouds showcase a radiant brightness against an otherwise darkened sky; and it's
this particular phenomenon that forms the inspiration for Celer's album of the
same name. Having stretched the tones of various instruments into languid
looping drones and bliss-out ambience, Celer presents 37 short tracks which
actually work really well as a single composition, given the gentle flutter and
restrained attack from all of their sounds. References abound to William Basinski's
ambient work, Aidan Baker's soft focus facets, and of course the seminal work of
Brian Eno.
SOUNDSCAPING (JANUARY 2009)
Mysterious, cloud formations take shape in Celer’s new ambient album.
To start off, this album reminds me of one of Information’s old ambient recordings;
their follow-up Successor which comprised 90-something bits and pieces with the
simple instructions in the back to press random, then play, then sit back and enjoy.
Such is the statement issued before-hand by Celer too regarding their album,
Nacreous Clouds; their ambient journey plays just as well in sequence as jumbled
up in random order, so naturally I was intrigued and have listened through in
various orders in addition to the traditional track order.
A little background on Celer first though; some may recall them as half of the
force behind the Mesoscaphe album reviewed here at Soundscaping earlier in
2008 (ed. to which a highly anticipated follow-up is being worked upon). The duo
is California-based husband and wife, Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long; both
teachers in education, the former also a published writer and instrumentalist into
field recordings and sound experiments. The latter works in special education and
music therapy, and is specialised in a multitude of disciplines as well as a
seasoned globe-trotter from long stays abroad.
Personalia aside, Nacreous Clouds delivers on both accounts; played
chronologically and in random order, and is an absolutely sublime piece of
ambient music. Will & Dani use sounds from piano, cello, bells, violins and field
recordings and computers to process until the boundaries of each constituent
instrument disappear and the result is just a lovely, floating stream of unassuming,
non-pretentious sound. Soothing compositions of anything from half a minute and
up to longer drones at five minutes all contribute to a holistic feeling of something
serene and beautiful, like slowly developing clouds that form a shape then
disperse and take on a different appearance, holding each shape for a limited
time but all the while captivating to the listener, like the sky when you witness the
phenomenon of mother of pearl clouds. The music is moving and restrained,
sometimes growing in force then retracting, but never with elements that break the
conformity of the entire composition. In this way, Celer have produced an
indispensable collection of ambient soundscapes that flow seamlessly and would
be ideal for home listening as a supplement to relaxation. If you are looking for an
ambient album from 2008, look no further than Nacreous Clouds on the influential
and/OAR label. (Trym)
Mysterious, cloud formations take shape in Celer’s new ambient album.
To start off, this album reminds me of one of Information’s old ambient recordings;
their follow-up Successor which comprised 90-something bits and pieces with the
simple instructions in the back to press random, then play, then sit back and enjoy.
Such is the statement issued before-hand by Celer too regarding their album,
Nacreous Clouds; their ambient journey plays just as well in sequence as jumbled
up in random order, so naturally I was intrigued and have listened through in
various orders in addition to the traditional track order.
A little background on Celer first though; some may recall them as half of the
force behind the Mesoscaphe album reviewed here at Soundscaping earlier in
2008 (ed. to which a highly anticipated follow-up is being worked upon). The duo
is California-based husband and wife, Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long; both
teachers in education, the former also a published writer and instrumentalist into
field recordings and sound experiments. The latter works in special education and
music therapy, and is specialised in a multitude of disciplines as well as a
seasoned globe-trotter from long stays abroad.
Personalia aside, Nacreous Clouds delivers on both accounts; played
chronologically and in random order, and is an absolutely sublime piece of
ambient music. Will & Dani use sounds from piano, cello, bells, violins and field
recordings and computers to process until the boundaries of each constituent
instrument disappear and the result is just a lovely, floating stream of unassuming,
non-pretentious sound. Soothing compositions of anything from half a minute and
up to longer drones at five minutes all contribute to a holistic feeling of something
serene and beautiful, like slowly developing clouds that form a shape then
disperse and take on a different appearance, holding each shape for a limited
time but all the while captivating to the listener, like the sky when you witness the
phenomenon of mother of pearl clouds. The music is moving and restrained,
sometimes growing in force then retracting, but never with elements that break the
conformity of the entire composition. In this way, Celer have produced an
indispensable collection of ambient soundscapes that flow seamlessly and would
be ideal for home listening as a supplement to relaxation. If you are looking for an
ambient album from 2008, look no further than Nacreous Clouds on the influential
and/OAR label. (Trym)
FURTHERNOISE (APRIL 2009)
Nacreous Clouds is a depiction of forms that drape themselves in the winter across
the skies of the polar North. These clouds get sunlight from below the horizon and
reflect it to the ground, radiant before dawn or after dusk. 37 short tracks of
iridescent ambience reflect their inner life, mercurial nature reflected in their
evanescence. Sounds drawn from life (showers, running water, TV static, wind,
cars, gravel streets) and instruments (cello, piano, bells) are formed into
mellifluous mother-of-pearl tonalities. A mimesis of cloud motions in sound
structures, filmy strata delicately unfurl, stretch and contract (see this sequence),
mirroring their tendency to reveal the wind and waves of the stratosphere. Rawer
than usual for this process-heavy pair, timbres are left exposed (what? no reverb?!)
to shine through undimmed - more innocent, immediate. Possibly more affecting
for this, Nacreous Clouds has the same pleasingly tranquillizing effect as
cloudwatching. (Alan Lockett)
Nacreous Clouds is a depiction of forms that drape themselves in the winter across
the skies of the polar North. These clouds get sunlight from below the horizon and
reflect it to the ground, radiant before dawn or after dusk. 37 short tracks of
iridescent ambience reflect their inner life, mercurial nature reflected in their
evanescence. Sounds drawn from life (showers, running water, TV static, wind,
cars, gravel streets) and instruments (cello, piano, bells) are formed into
mellifluous mother-of-pearl tonalities. A mimesis of cloud motions in sound
structures, filmy strata delicately unfurl, stretch and contract (see this sequence),
mirroring their tendency to reveal the wind and waves of the stratosphere. Rawer
than usual for this process-heavy pair, timbres are left exposed (what? no reverb?!)
to shine through undimmed - more innocent, immediate. Possibly more affecting
for this, Nacreous Clouds has the same pleasingly tranquillizing effect as
cloudwatching. (Alan Lockett)
SENTIREASCOLTARE (JANUARY 2009)
Trentasette micro frammenti lunghi poco meno o poco più di 2-3 minuti
sintetizzano il simbiotico unisono della coppia Danielle Bagìquet-Long / Will
Long, in arte Celer.Dichiarate propensioni ambient che in Nacreous clouds
trovano spunto per far dialogare elementi atmosferici in matrici elettroacustiche.
Parliamo delle nubi madreperlacee, fenomeno noto nelle regioni artiche, legato
alle rigide temperature invernali che si raggiungono nella stratosfera polare ad
altitudini di 15,000–25,000 metri.A causa dell’altitudine e della curvature della
superficie terrestre queste nubi ricevono la luce del sole al di sotto dell’orizzonte
per poi rifletterlo sulla Terra.
S'incontrano tracce d’un malinconico naturalisno romantico, che prendono
consistenza nelle vaporee identità tonali di improvvisi lamenti elettrostatici.
Paradigmi d’eccellente sensibilità intrappolano l’atmosfera percettiva delle
sfumature madreperlacee che diventano motivo di dibattito su tematiche tanto
care alla musica minimale del dopoguerra.
Se volessimo parlare di influenze citeremmo i musicisti-scenziati alla Toshiya
Tsunoda, la ricerca sulle ombre sonore, il concetto di “ecologia-sonora”, “musica
invisibile”, senza dimenticare gli studi ormai classici legati al periodo post-
werbiano del puntualismo, o le contemporanee affinità di Mark Fell.Ma non è
questo il punto.
Piuttosto stupisce l’organica architettura di fondo che trama per 78 minuti
celando fonti analogiche e digitali abilmente plasmate in laptop, tagli, filtri e
field-recording senza perdere di vista il filo conduttore.Quel filo conduttore che si
fa portavoce d’estetiche e organiche letture ambientali, rappresentando al meglio
la mutevole identità di una nuvola e dei suoi fondali in colore.Una delle migliori
opere del duo, sicuramente un raro esempio di poesia sonora. (Sara Braco)
Trentasette micro frammenti lunghi poco meno o poco più di 2-3 minuti
sintetizzano il simbiotico unisono della coppia Danielle Bagìquet-Long / Will
Long, in arte Celer.Dichiarate propensioni ambient che in Nacreous clouds
trovano spunto per far dialogare elementi atmosferici in matrici elettroacustiche.
Parliamo delle nubi madreperlacee, fenomeno noto nelle regioni artiche, legato
alle rigide temperature invernali che si raggiungono nella stratosfera polare ad
altitudini di 15,000–25,000 metri.A causa dell’altitudine e della curvature della
superficie terrestre queste nubi ricevono la luce del sole al di sotto dell’orizzonte
per poi rifletterlo sulla Terra.
S'incontrano tracce d’un malinconico naturalisno romantico, che prendono
consistenza nelle vaporee identità tonali di improvvisi lamenti elettrostatici.
Paradigmi d’eccellente sensibilità intrappolano l’atmosfera percettiva delle
sfumature madreperlacee che diventano motivo di dibattito su tematiche tanto
care alla musica minimale del dopoguerra.
Se volessimo parlare di influenze citeremmo i musicisti-scenziati alla Toshiya
Tsunoda, la ricerca sulle ombre sonore, il concetto di “ecologia-sonora”, “musica
invisibile”, senza dimenticare gli studi ormai classici legati al periodo post-
werbiano del puntualismo, o le contemporanee affinità di Mark Fell.Ma non è
questo il punto.
Piuttosto stupisce l’organica architettura di fondo che trama per 78 minuti
celando fonti analogiche e digitali abilmente plasmate in laptop, tagli, filtri e
field-recording senza perdere di vista il filo conduttore.Quel filo conduttore che si
fa portavoce d’estetiche e organiche letture ambientali, rappresentando al meglio
la mutevole identità di una nuvola e dei suoi fondali in colore.Una delle migliori
opere del duo, sicuramente un raro esempio di poesia sonora. (Sara Braco)
